Locomotive-boiler fire-box.



'1. P. NEFF.

'LOCOMOTWE BOILER FIRE BOX. APPLICATION HLED ocT. x. :913.

l 339958. l Patented May 4, 1915.

a J I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

C26. Zr

l lil All.

' 1 l WW' J. P. NEFF.

LOCGMOTIVE BoxLER FIRE Box,

mmcmxon man ocT. i. 191s.

f 1- UNITED sTATEs lPATENT oEEicE. I yerori'Nil. NEEE, 0E EAST ORANGE, NEWI JERSEY, AssIGNoE., BYNESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To AMERICAN Anon COMPANY, orv Niiyvronx, N. ir., A conronATioN or DELA- To all lwhom. 'it may concern WARE. l

I-.ocoiaoTivE-BOIEEE"'EInE-Eox.

Specication of Letters latent. x i l' r r Patented May 4, 1915.

. Application lcd October 1, 1913.V J/erial No. 792,783.

' Be it known that I, JOHN P. NErr,.a citizen of'the'United States, and a resident of- East Orange', county of Essex, New Jersey,

5 have. inventedcertain new and useful Imroveinents-y in Locomotive-Boiler Fireoxes,f'of which the following-is a specification. -f i My invention relates to improvements in locomotives, and has particular lreference to' l locomotive boiler iirebox in which the fuel y v l moving the screen. A.

improvements in iireboxes of locomotive boilers.

yThe object of my invention is to provide a -shall beI completely and perfectly consumed `before the products of combustion escape through 'the ilu'es; to provide a iirebox wherein the burning gases may complete [their combustion in a chamber substantiallycompletely screened Ifrom the main combustion chamber of the lirebox; which the gases of combustion shall be commingled with' additional air before entering the'auxiliary combustion" chamber; andv in which ac cess -to the auxiliary combustion chamber can be obtained without destroying or reuppelj part, .0f the refractory Av furtherobject yof my invention is to' provide a' transverse-refractory' screen for the rebo'xes of "locomotives, the lower .part of which Vshall prevent'l the direct flow of the ases of combustion from the fuelbed to the ues and the upperl part off'whioh shall erimit the "flow of gases forward in the fire ox,

and which shall be so constructedthat access to the space forward of the screenmay -be easily attained.

l My invention resides in a locomotive firee 'box provided with a'transverse refractory screen.extendingA fromthe grate to the crown sheet, the llower part being imperfoi'ate, the

up er part beingV perforate,` anda removable -sla arranged between the' upper and lower parts whereby access 4to the space forward of the screen maybe veasily attained.

` 'My invention also consists iii a firebox Aprovided adjacent to 'its forward end with aiiv imperfora'te refractory-Wall spacedv from the iiue sheet and risingsubstantially half the height of the firebox, and an open-Work refractory-screen offset rearwardly` from the ff wall and extending from'tlie level of the top ofthe wall to the crown sheet, the space be tween the lower edge of the .screen` and vthe l high yarranged inthe forward art thereof and embodying my invention; ig. 2 is a vertivcal,transve1 se section of the firebox on the line 2-2 of Fig. l; Fig.` 3 -is -a view similar to FigQZ showing al slightl modification of my .-invention; Fig. 4 is a detail, vertical sectionof'the wall shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a view similar'to 2 showing another .modified forni of iny invention; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of. the bricks forming the perforate screen illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4; Fig. 8 is aperspective view of .one of the bricks of the screenisliown in Figs. 5 and 6; andFig. 9- is a per ective view of one of the bricks forming t escreen shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

`In mod yn locomotive development it `has been found necessary to gradually increase the strength of the draft so that sufficient f uel might be consumed upon the grates to properly supply the locomotive with steam.

his exceedingly strong draft serves .not only to raise and carry upward through the firebox solid fuel particles,vcinders and ash, but also causes the gases to flow at such a spiced from the fuel bed'to Ithe Vflues that it' as been substantially impossible for 'the fuel tobe'completely consumed before the gases escape through the ugn '1t i5 f1 Pallclllar object of my invention to', in a sense, increase the capacity of the iire'boxrather than diminish it, to cause the frebox gases to give-up their lheat efficiently v.. telt he .waterin `the boiler and to protect the e final stageof their combustion ey lcompletely froln'thc main combustionlli) burned before. the gafies eaeape through the i'lues. 'l`o this endl hai e divided the. lirebox lily means of a refractoiy baille or sei-een into an auxiliary coizibustion ehauiber inthe forward enil, and a uiaiii eonibuatioii eli'ainlier at ilu,l rear end. 'this ,Herren extendsy l'roii the level ol the grate-to the :ron u sheet, thv lower part thereol' I oli-t. or iiuperl'orate and is adapted to in ieet air into the lirebox' abore the l'uel bed, ilie upper part ol' the screen is provided with iuany passages through n'hiehthe ganen ol' combustion can pa a.: l'roiu tlie-i`uain eouibusliou chamber to the auxiliary eoinbustion chamber, and this wall isi also built ol' i'el'raetory parts, the rcsult being that; the upper part oll the wall, being iliade ot' parte1 which are thin und. light, soon attains a high temperature, or, in fact, the inaxiinuni teuiperatui'e of the lireliox. and thereafter Herren to ignite the gases and the l'uel i'iartieles whieh iuay ,-onie'into eouliaet therewith and at a temperature be.- low that ol" propei. combustion. Furthermore, the auxiliary combustion chanibei.' being separated l'roui the, inain elianiber by` iueans oli-this refrartoi'y aereen which beeoines highly heated, the, auxiliary coinbus. lion rhanibm' is protected against the-entrance of dra lts ol cold air through the liredoor and the gases therein are maintained al: a temperature high enough to prevent# any ol the vfuel escaping from thelirebox' iinbiiriied. Again the auxiliary combustion chainbei' being relatively large, the speedy of the gases through this chamber is reduced below that at which they llowy throng-li the screen and,consequently `the gases deposit or drop their burden of cinders or ashes in ilie auxiliary eoiubustion chamber before they eiiterl the llues, thusk ln'ieventing the e'ieetion ol' the unbui'ned or solid particles l'roiu the stark ol' the liaiouiotiie. ln order to proiide a yaullieientgrate area and at the saine tiine proiide an :auxiliary eoinbusztion eliainber ol' the reii'uhite capacity, l arrange the lower part oll the screen nearer the llue sheet than the upper part, :rnd l'or the .purpoee ol' providing an enltranee through nhieh :ieri-ss rau. be gained to tlieau.\'iliaryv eolniluistliou chamber lo ell'eut neresaiy l'e, pair@-` l arrange :slabs closingl the spare between upper and lorer partel of the sei-een. in snel; a way, that they may be easily reinoreil lo providel au opening through which :iii'orhinan may enter the auxiliary eoinlius-v tion elianiber l'roiu the inain roiubustiou eliainber.

ln order losupporl `the upper part of the sereeii in poaition. l provide water-icinadat-- ing!y tubes extending tia'naverxely 0f the fii'eliox, l'r'oui side sheet to sidenheet and beiieathl the wall tiring these tubes ausl the n'all together by ,ia-ans of the refractory rfyliilis.; y l Y I tiri-lap( A, an .slioau in the drawings,

ythe wall and the flue Sheet.

,zontal rows c of comprises a flue sheet rz at the forward end, a rear sheet a", fade sheets a and a crown sheet f. vFlims c lead forward from-the flue sheet and the rear-cndnof the filfbox is prorided with a fuel door or opening a. I

arrange .a transverse lmetallic wall sulport e' toY ll extending across the irehox from si .aulel and spacedrearwardly from the ue ,eheeh and upon this support erect vit 4solid or iinpcrforate wall (l also extending across the lirebox. 'This Wall serves to prevent the i direct 'flow of the gases of combustion from the fuel lied to thel fines. A grate D of usual construction fills the space between the Wall (j and the rear end oi the frebox.

I clotslhe loi-ward end of the fiieborby means of a horizontal platea which also Yserves t0' i-.lose the 4lower endof the auxiliary combustionl chamber a which is formed between preferably made .up of a number of hori ricks a?. illustrated in Figs. 1 andi2,the wall consist! The Win11 C v`is In the formv ol' tivo of. these rows and thewull-extends' A Asu|^tantially half way from the rubato the i eroii'n sheet. I lill in the space ictween th upper part of the wall and the crown shed` willi aperforatewall E, and while the upper part might .be arranged'in V'other rela* tions,4 to the lower part, Ipreferubly space it rearwardly from the main wall C, thus eny larging the auxiliary combustion chamber li. 'lo support the wall E in its position I" provide transversely extending ivateecil'oui biting tubes F, `which extend from side'sht to side sheet, the opposite ends of each tubeA being spaced vertically relatively'to'ench other ,so that each tube will be inclined and nill eaiise'a current `el waterftobe'mam- ,tained through these tiibes'a't'alltim.

'I'he ,wall l]l consists of n. plurality of 1 hreks c, whieh may assume niany different cross aeetions, butwheli, in any event', vIroi'oin the niain combustion chamber awhig-j oeeiipies the space between the't'e screen and the rear end of the firebox to .l

:iuxiliariv combustion rlia'n'iher. Fortinl pose. of /providing a suitable foun y' upoii which to build the perforate Sc A l provide. refraetorv slabs aavwhich adapted to i'eSt'at their reati' ends. i tl tubes l" and at their Iforward en d l1 the upper surl'aee yof vthe, wall C. el slabs am preferabl'\ provided with depnding portiona` e," ou their lower sidesildltpll-4` ed to eontact at tlieirrear ends withf'one of the tubea` l*` and at'their forward ends with the rearifaee ofthe wall (l, and these slnbs are thereby inaintiiined in' position und'l serre to brare or' Sleadv both the wall C'lmd' ideama the tubes For the purpose of through which a workman can gain access interlocked and are to thel auxiliary combustion chamber. The wall E may be aptly termed a refractory screen, for'` it is made up of the bricks e1 and the alternating spaces e2. These bricks, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, are I- shaped in cross section and have relatively thiniwalls, These thin walls soon become highly heated, andtheir points of contact, one with another, soon become cemented together by reason Iof the high temperature to which they are exposedv in use and by the melted slag which is deposited upon the bricks from -the irebox gases.. While under ordinary circumstances this cementing action is sufiicientto retain place the brick `members of vwhich the wall E is built, I prefer to interlock" these members, and for this purpose I .provide lthe upper edges of these bricks withproje'ctions e and their lower edges with notches eE4 whereby the bricks are revented from mov AI provide the ing out of their positions.

i lower wall C withair inlet conduits c risof thewall through ing from 'the lower end -thereof and entering the Ifire box adjacent tothe upper edge the rear face and below the slabs e. The air thus entering through thewall `C is partly heated and as it enters the irebox over the fuel bed and below the slabs eI it is mixed with the firebox gases, andl `thereby raised to a higher temperature before-it enters the-'main art of the main combustion chamber as'. T is con- 'Y gases struction serves-to add to the etliciency of thefirebox, for the'reason that the air be.

Aing` thus gradually mixed withthe firebox does'nottend to chill them to any appreciable extent. ,The wall support B is provided at its rear edge with a ledge or rib bwhich aids in retaining the wall C upon its support. For the purpose of. admitting air to the channels c3 I rovide depending air inlets b2 secured to t e wall support B and adapted to permit the entrance of'air into the `conduits es. I'curve the lower ends of these inlets b2 to project.

them forwardly and I provide their open ends with flaring mouths b through which theair is'caused to enter Saidtubes L with eo''isijderable force, whenv the locomotive is yfin inption. For the purposeof conveniently .fglearmg Ythe auxiliary combustion chamber from the deposit of cinders and fuel particles which collects therein, I provided at its lower end a cinder outleta.1o which is normally closed at its lower end by a removable cover a.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a refractory'screen H, made which are D- hape in cross section instead -of I-shape, and are provided in their lower ledges with depending centrally arranged projections h, with complementary sockets ha. These projections are adapted to enter the sockets of bricks immediatel below them and thus retain the bricksfo the wall inpositien against movement laterally in any direction. The weight of the bricks themselves serves to hold the wall from rising andl up of bricks h1 and on their upper surfaces I hence the wall .constructed in the manner described is substantially permanent even through the several bricks of which the screenis made do not completely cement together. {r1-. Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown another form of interlock. In this' wall the bricks il have their upper corners cut away to provide sockets 7'2 and are provided' on their lower.- surfaces with projections j adapted tol enter the sockets j when the ey also In all of the forms of my invention I pre- I serve the main features which are a solid wall spaced from the flue sheet and rising from the level of the grate substantially half v the height of the box, anupper screen spaced farther from the flue sheet and rising from the upper part of the wall 2to the crown:

sheet, and a refractory horizontal wall joining the upper part of the lower wall and the lower part of the upper' wall, a portion of said horizontal joining wall being easily" removable to give access to the auxiliary combustion chamber. A liirebox constructed 1n accordance with 4my invention serves to permit the combustion or theburning of thel fuel to nearly complete condition in the `main combustion chamber and causes the further and complete burning of the fuel in a combustion chamber which is maintained at a relatively high temperature and is protected from incoming blasts of vcool air,

whereby the fuel may complete its combustion under conditions which result in substantially'perfect results being vattained in fuel consumption. Furthermore, the wall serves to retard the fiow of the gases and retain them in the maxneombustion chamber vention checker-work permitting whereby they not only substantially complete the burning therein, but are caused to gire up their heat most advantageously to the water of the boiler.

As many modifications of my invention wil-,l readily suggest themselves to one skilled in the art, I do not to or structures herein shown and described.

I claimkz-4 i v l; In a locomotive boiler irebox, a. refrac tory baffle extendingrom the grate tothe limit or coniine my inv crown sheet and from side to side in the firebox and s aced rearwardly from the flue sheet divi ing the Iirebox into an auxiliary combustion chamber in the forward part, and a main combustionuehamber in'ythe rear part, the lower part of the baille preventing the direct llow of gases from .the fuelbed to the flues and the upper part comprising the gases to flow forwardly from the main combustion chamber to the auxiliaryv combustion chamber,

f and transverse water circulating 'tubesv exaving openings through which the gases ol combustion may How from the fuel bed to at the rear 50,'

thcflues and being offset rearwardly from the lower part, refr-actor space between the lower part and the upper part, andvfsaid airl inlets being adapted' to vinject air into. the lireboxbeneath said slabs. 3. In a locomotive boiler irebox, a refraetory baille spaced from thiA {lue sheet .and adapted to divide the lirebox into an auxiliary combustion chamber at the forfward end and a maincombustion jchaxnlrir end, the lower part of said wall 4 being arrangedat the forward end of the grate and adapted to prevent the flow of gases from the fuel bed to the lues, ,the upper part of the w all being spaced rearwardly from the lower part and connected thereto by means of refractory slabs, means supportA ing the upper part of the wall in position,

the lower part of thewall havingr air inlets through which air is admitted to the firebox beneath said slabs,

4. In a locomotive boiler firebox.l a rcfractory baille in the forward end thereof extending from the grate to the crown sheet and from side to side of the irebox and composed of a lower imperforate part and an upper part having passages to permit the specific arrangements of parts.

box spaced rearwardly v slabs `filling in the l the flow of gases from the fuel bed to the lues,the upper part being o'lset rearwardly from the lower part, transversely extending water-circulating tubes supporting the upper part in position, and refractory sla s resting at the rear ends upon said tubes and upon which the upper part of the wall is supported and resting at their forward ends upon said wall and serving to close the space between the upper part and lower part of the baille, one of said slabs being easily removable to permit entrance to the space beltween the .baille and the iue sheet.

5. In a locomotive boiler Iirebox, across wall rising from the grate to substantially half the height of the `firebox andspaced from the fluesheet, transversely extending water-circulating tubes arran ed in the firefrom t e upper edge slabs resting at of said wall, refractory their rear ends upon said tubes 'and at their forward ends upon sald rwall and closin the space between the tubes and the wal, an auxiliary wall resting on said slabs and rising to the crown sheet, said auxiliary wall being provided with gas ussagcs to permitr the flow of gases from the fuel bed tothe tlues, a ref ractory bridge lnember resting on said slabs and serving to support said wall, said bridge member spanning one of said slabs and being provided on its underside"v with a recess permitting the free removal of said spanned slab. n

(3.' ln a locomotive boiler rebox, arefractory cross wall arranged in the forward end tl'iereot' spaced rearwardly from the iiuev sheet and rising to substantially the middle oi' the height of the firebox, transversely extending lwater-circalating tubes arranged in the irebox. spaced rearwardly from theupper ed ge of said wall, refractory slabs rest` ingr at their rear ends upon said tubes and at their forward ends upon said wall and rovidcd on their undersides with depen ving projections'adapted to retain said slabs in position, a refractory 'bridge vmember resting upon `said slabs and spanning one of them, and provided on. its underside with a recess permitting tbe easy removal 0f the slab abmc which the bridge member is placed, and an auxiliary wall supported on said slabs and lsaid bridge member and rising to the crown sheet, said auxiliary wall beingr provided with a plurality of' gas passages through. which the gases of combustion may llow :lromthe i'uel bed to the llues.

7. -In a locomotive boiler {ii-eben, a refrac tory cross wall arranged in the forward end thereof, spaced rearwardly from the flue sheet and rising substaitially to the middle ol: the height ot the firebox, transversely ex tending \\'aier-circulating tubes Aarranged in the 'ireboxspared rearwardly from the upper edge oi the wall, relractory slabs resting al: their rear ends upon said tubes and at ,its lower part which permits the free retheir' forward ends upon said wall and closing the space between the tubes and the wall, and an auxiliary baffle supported by said ubes and resting upon said slabs, said auxiliary baille being provided with a recess in moral of one of saidslabs.

8. In a locomotive boiler frebox, a refractory cross wall arranged in the forward end thereof and rising from the level of the grate to` substantially the middle of the height of the irebox and spaced rearwardly from the flue sheet, transversely extending unter-circulating tubes arranged in the firebox, spaced'rearwardly from they upper edge of the wall, refractory slabs resting at their rear ends upon said tubes and at their forward ends upon said wall and having depending portions extending between the tubes and the wall and'serving to hold said slabs in position, a refractory bridge member resting upon said slabs and spanning one of them, an auxiliary baille supported on said slabs and said bridge member and ris-- ing therefrom to the crown sheet, said auxiliary baffle being provided with a plurality of relatively small gas passages through which the gases of combustion may ow from the fuel bed to the lues, saidrefractory bridge member being-provided with a tapered recess which permits the rear end of the slab above which it is placed to be raised a sufficient/distance to free its depending proj ectionfrom the refractory wall so that this slab can be removed from its position to give access to the space between the baffle and the iiue sheet.

9. A locomotive boiler rebox and its grate, in combination with a cross wall at the forward end of the grate and composed of refractory bricks, transverse Water circulating tubes extending across the firebox behind said wall, refractory slabs or bricks resting upon said tubes and Wall, and refractory checker-work disposed upon said slabs.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 22 day of Sept., 1913, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN P. NEFF.

l Witnesses:

` JAS. T. ANTHONY,

EMILYVL. MYERS. 

